Essential to the drive train in many vehicles, a universal joint can present a challenge to persons needing to service such vehicles. For instance, prior to towing a vehicle with its drive wheels on the ground, it is necessary to decouple the drive shaft from the transmission. A drive shaft should be disconnected from the transmission so as to prevent damage to the transmission.
The most common way to disconnect a drive shaft from a transmission is to dismantle a universal joint (“U-joint”) portion of the drive train, thereby separating one part of the drive shaft from another. Prior devices have been used to perform this function, albeit sometimes extremely difficultly. For instance, expired U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,319, to Skoworodko, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a manual U-joint dismantling tool.
However, the art of vehicle servicing could still benefit from an automated U-joint dismantling tool, which greatly decreases frustration that may be experienced using former tool designs.